The Obligation to Protect and Assist Child Victims of Human Trafficking Research Investigator: Maria Glynn.

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Presentation on theme: "The Obligation to Protect and Assist Child Victims of Human Trafficking Research Investigator: Maria Glynn."— Presentation transcript:

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The Obligation to Protect and Assist Child Victims of Human Trafficking Research Investigator: Maria Glynn

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Internationally Recognised Definition Article 3 (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2002) states that: the act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs

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Trafficking - Prevalence Internationally Estimates vary United States - 600,000 to 800,000 individuals United Nations - 4 million women International Labour Organisation – 12.3 million persons are trafficked each year (Department of State, 2010; Huda, 2009; The International Labour Organisation, 2005).

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U.S. Department of State (2012) and the UNODC (2006): Children constitute largest number of trafficked victims Number of child trafficking cases is growing per year (Kotrla, 2011 and Wommack, 2011) Age range years, but children as young as 5 years have been identified Majority of child victims are trafficked by their families

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Protection and Assistance for Trafficked Victims Remains controversial Immigration response is more dominant than a human rights focus (Bump, 2009; Hynes, 2010 and Rigby et al., 2012). Little research has been carried out on the models of best practice for child trafficking in comparison to other child protection issues.

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Identification: first crucial step Many victims: Remain hidden and are reluctant to speak Feel responsible and blame themselves for their victimisation Particularly child victims have difficulty in retaining past experiences of their trafficking process Adapt to the exploitative situation

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The establishment of a NRM (Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and UK) Countries who have no NRM (Cyprus, Ireland and Montenegro): - law enforcement have sole responsibility - identification depends of victim co- operation and providing of sufficient evidence -hinder successful identification

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No standardised age assessment procedure: -Bone Density and DNA testing was abandoned -Immense pressure put on front-line responders to successfully identify child victims Illegally residing victims are not identified (Austria, Denmark, Slovak Republic) Identification of victims is not carried out in a timely fashion-contrary to Article 10 of the CoE Convention

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Recovery and Reflection Period not reflected in law or practice (Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Montenegro and Romania). -Only granted on the basis of victims willingness to co-operate and provide sufficient evidence -More concerned with the criminalisation of traffickers rather than the protection and recovery of victims

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Only identified victims avail of the necessary protection and assistance they require - U.S. Department of State (2012) argues that unidentified victims are at a high risk of being re- trafficked as their physical, psychological and social needs are not being met - Inappropriate and unsafe accommodation centres, particularly for child victims (62/186 countries provide suitable accommodation) - Children go missing - Un-normalised settings for children which prevents them from progressing with their lives

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Legal guardianship: is essential to ensure the childs protection and reintegration into society - number of countries do not have a legal guardianship system - Scotland is one of few States The Red Cross - Restoration of family links - Red Cross are not always allowed to talk to child victims - Secondary information can lead to the inaccuracy

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Recommendations All relevant agencies should be involved in the identification process All victims should be identified despite their legal status so that they can be provided with the necessary protection and assistance they require

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The establishment of appropriate accommodation facilities is necessary Guardianship system is necessary, similar to that of Scotland Involvement of psychologists in the identification process is essential to detect the subtle indicators and understand the psychological impact